Graybar Canada

Graybar Canada is an employee-owned company that is engaged in the supply and distribution of electrical, communications, security, lighting, automation, utility and oil and gas products to the Canadian marketplace. A subsidiary of Graybar Electric Company, Graybar Canada was formed in 2000, and is currently based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

History

Graybar Electric Company

Elisha Gray, an inventor, and Enos Barton, an entrepreneur, founded Gray & Barton in Cleveland, Ohio in 1869. In 1872, this partnership became Western Electric Company, which supplied telegraph components to the Western Union Telegraph Company. After the invention of the telephone, Western Electric became the exclusive manufacturer of the telephone equipment for the Bell System.

By the early 1900s, Western had grown to be one of the largest manufacturing concerns in the world. Western Electric also managed a thriving electrical distribution business, furnishing its customers with non-telephone products made by other manufacturers. This electrical distribution business was spun off from Western Electric and organized into a separate company, Graybar Electric Company, Inc., in 1925. Graybar employees bought their company in 1929.

The corporate headquarters moved from the Graybar Building in New York City to St. Louis in 1982.

Formation of Graybar Canada

On October 2, 1992, Graybar Electric purchased the assets of both Harris & Roome Supply Ltd., operating within Canada's Atlantic Provinces and Ellis & Howard, operating within Ontario, and employed all of the firms' 80 employees.

In January 2000, the Graybar Electric Company created Graybar Canada to manage the growth on their Canadian operations. After the creation of Graybar Canada, the brands of Harris & Roome Supply, operating in Canada's Atlantic provinces, and Graybar Electric (Ontario) Limited, operating within Ontario, came together as one company.

In November 2001, after the first share offering, over 50% of Graybar Canada employees became shareholders in Graybar Canada.

Under the new Graybar Canada organization, the company started an aggressive growth plan, opening a new Data Communications branch in the Calgary, Alberta in 2003. This expansion was soon followed by the opening of a full-line electrical and data communications branch in Ottawa, Ontario in 2005. In 2007, Graybar Canada opened its national wire and cable warehouse, along with a Vancouver data communications and electrical branch, and the expansion of their pre-existing Calgary branch.

Currently, Graybar Canada operates 30 locations across the country. Headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Graybar Canada continues to remain a solid employee-owned company

Harris & Roome Supply Ltd.

Harris & Roome Supply was founded by J. Arthur Harris and R.E.G. Roome in 1920, under the name Harris & Roome Limited. Initially, the firm did business as a small general wholesale shop, selling guns, canoes and electrical supplies in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia.

In 1963, Mr. Harris and Mr. Roome sold the business to H.C. Roberts and A. MacDonald, employees of General Electric. After the purchase, Roberts and MacDonald initiated an aggressive growth plan, expanding the electrical and electronics sides of the business respectively, and opening a new location in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

In 1978, Roberts and MacDonald split up their different Business operations. After this, Roberts partnered with operations manager F.H. Hughes, becoming president and vice president respectively.

By 1983, Harris and Roome had 5 locations, which quickly grew to 12 after the acquisition of the Atlantic operations of GESCAN (General Electric's Canadian electrical distribution arm). By the end of the 1990s, Harris and Roome had added another seven branches.

In 1991, the Graybar Electric Company purchased an interest in Harris and Roome. Over the next six years, they became a majority shareholder, completing their acquisition in 1997.

Graybar Ontario

In 1913, Frank Ellis and Sam Howard launched Ellis & Howard in a barn on David Street in Kitchener, Ontario. The business began as an electrical contractor, wiring homes and industries to the new electrical distribution system in Ontario. As demand increased, electrical fixtures, appliances and materials were added to the business.

In 1924, Ellis & Howard discontinued the electrical wiring business and began their focus on the wholesale of electrical goods. The business enjoyed success from the 1920s until the 1990s, weathering recessions and the Great Depression.

Branch Locations

Regional & Head Offices

Graybar Canada Canadian Head Office

P.O. Box 9078, Station "A" 3600 Joseph Howe Drive Halifax, NS B3K 5M7 Tel: (902) 457-8787 Fax: (902) 445-5808

Atlantic Regional Office

P.O. Box 9078, Station "A" 3600 Joseph Howe Drive Halifax, NS B3K 5M7 Tel: (902) 457-8730 Fax: (902) 457-1558

Central Regional Office

130 Hayward Avenue Kitchener, ON N2G 4E8 Tel: (519) 576-4050 Fax: (519) 576-6453

Western Regional Office

2765 - 48th Avenue NE, Unit 105 Calgary, AB T3J 5M9 Tel: (403) 250-5554 Fax: (403) 250-2050

Nova Scotia

Bridgewater

P.O. Box 356 108 Logan Road Bridgewater, NS B4V 2W9 Tel: (902) 543-9155 Fax: (902 543-5137

Dartmouth

260 Brownlow Avenue Dartmouth, NS B3B 1V9 Tel: (902) 468-6665 Fax: (902) 468-2696

Halifax

P.O. Box 9078, Station "A" 3600 Joseph Howe Drive Halifax, NS B3K 5M7 Tel: (902) 443-8311 Fax: (902) 443-5171

Kentville

9 Roscoe Drive Kentville, NS B4N 3V7 Tel: (902) 755-4673 Fax: (902) 752-3881

New Glasgow

P.O. Box 695 136 Terra Cotta Drive New Glasgow, NS B2H 5G2 Tel: (902) 755-4673 Fax: (902) 752-3881

Sydney

P.O. Box 159 1100 Upper Prince Street Sydney, NS B1P 5P6 Tel: (902) 564-5504 Fax: (902) 562-4536

Truro

45 Polymer Road Truro, NS B2N 6T8 Tel: (902) 893-4251 Fax: (902) 893-4806

Yarmouth

P.O. Box 247 6 Industry Avenue Yarmouth, NS B5A 4B2 Tel: (902) 742-6771 Fax: (902) 742-0246

New Brunswick

Bathurst

P.O. Box 776 1765 Connolly Avenue Bathurst, NB E2A 3Z6 Tel: (506) 548-2922 Fax: (506) 546-1517

Florenceville

Civic#: 9124 Route 130 Florenceville, NB E7L 1Y9 Tel: (506) 392-6084 Fax: (506) 392-8314

Fredericton

P.O. Box 396, Station "A" 668 Prospect Street Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z9 Tel: (506) 458-8265 Fax: (506) 452-9753

Moncton

385 Edinburgh Drive Moncton, NB E1E 2L2 Tel: (506) 853-8188 Fax: (506) 859-8109

Saint John

P.O. Box 2480 300 Charlotte Street Saint John, NB E2L 3V9 Tel: (506) 634-2094 Fax: (506) 634-8018

Price Edward Island

Charlottetown

13 Walker Drive Charlottetown, PE C1A 8S5 Tel: (902) 566-1404 Fax: (902) 566-4065

Newfoundland & Labrador

Corner Brook

P.O. Box 762 356 O'Connell Drive Corner Brook, NL A2h 6G7 Tel: (709) 632-7315 Fax: (709) 632-2451

Grand Falls

P.O. Box 417 4 Bayley Street Grand Falls-Windsor, NL A2A 2J8 Tel: (709) 489-4161 Fax: (709) 489-4424

St. John's

P.O. Box 8626, Station "A" 47 Pippy Place St. John's, NL A1B 3T1 Tel: (709) 722-6161 Fax: (709) 722-8886

Wabush

P.O. Box 1049 4 First Street Wabush, NL A0R 1B0 Tel: (709) 282-3555 Fax: (709) 282-3554

Central Canada

Central Automation Branch

6471 Northam Drive Mississauga, ON L4V 1J2 6741 Northam Drive Mississauga, ON L4V 1J2 Tel: (905) 364-0371 Fax: (905) 364-0375

Guelph

494 Massey Road Guelph, ON N1K 1B4 Tel: (519) 821-2580 Fax: (519) 821-2731

Hamilton

85 Morley Street Hamilton, ON L8H 3R8 Tel: (905) 547-8040 Fax: (905) 547-3332

Kitchener

130 Hayward Avenue Kitchener, ON N2C 2E4 Tel: (519) 576-4050 Fax: (519) 576-2402

Markham

2750 John Street Markham, ON L3R 2W4 Tel: (905) 752-0767 Fax: (905) 752-0782

Mississauga

5895 Whittle Road Mississauga, ON L4Z 2H4 Tel: (905) 507-0533 Fax: (905) 507-1574

Niagara Falls

4400 Montrose Road Niagara Falls, ON L2H 1K2 Tel: (905) 374-1113 Fax: (902) 374-1175

Ottawa

Unit 2, 1730 Bantree Street Ottawa, ON K1B 3W4 Tel: (613) 688-0124 Fax: (613) 688-0125

Windsor

2760 Deziel Drive Windsor, ON N8W 5H8 Tel: (519) 944-4414 Fax: (519) 944-6166

West

Calgary

2765-48th Avenue NE, Unit 105 Calgary, AB T3J 5M7 Tel: (403) 250-5554 Fax: (403) 250-2050

Edmonton (Sales Office)

18104-102 Avenue Edmonton, AB T5S 1S7 Tel: (780) 767-5994 Fax: (780) 481-1139

Vancouver

6741 Cariboo Road, Unit 115 Burnaby, BC V3N 4A3 Tel: (604) 676-4400 Fax: (604) 676-4405